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WinSCP the Free SFTP GUI For Windows
Author: HumanX | Tuesday July 15, 2003
Aint free great? Especially when it is something for Windows! I know this is a linux site but many Linux users utilize multiple operating systems. And for those of you on the Win Client side needing to connect to your Linux server to transfer files, WinSCP is for you.
I want it to be known right now, I love putty. Putty rules! . Putty is a small ssh client for windows which is fast, reliable and full of functions.
It is one of those few windows applications that just seems to run, and run, and run, and run and run..... You get the picture. WinSCP is partially dependent on Putty, so now that you have a preview of Putty, you know what you are dealing with WinSCP.
Traditionally, when in Windows I use putty to build a secure tunnel to my server for administration and email purposes. With SSH and PuTTY, you can connect to your Linux Server from a Windows box in a secure and encrypted environment. Their are some security pitfalls which I am not going to get into in this article, but for most applications this works great. Now it would be alot easier if this could be done with an FTP client that directly supports SSH without having to build the tunnel in Putty.
Enter WinSCP. WinSCP to begin with is an excellent FTP client regardless of its encryption capabilities. It contains all of the utilities you would expect from an FTP client (including local machine file system operations) all wrapped up in a decent interface. WinSCP also has a second interface which is similar to Windows Explorer with all of the functionality you would expect from Windows Explorer.
I like the description on the WinSCP website, simple and to the point "WinSCP is a freeware SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) and SCP (Secure CoPy) client for Windows using SSH (Secure SHell). Its main function is safe copying of files between a local and a remote computer." What more could you possibly ask for.
Other unique features include transfer throttling where you can modify transfer speeds, transfer resume and remote file editing. Remote File editing allows you to open a file on the remote server and the file will automatically be uploaded when it has changed.
I have yet to go through all of the facilities of WinSCP, but what I have used thus far have been simply perfect. WinSCP is undoubtely a commercial grade application.
The current stable release is version 2.3 and Beta 3 is available.
Ratings (Bad 1 - 5 Excellent)
Functions: 5
Interface:
Standard GUI: 4
Explorer GUI: Untried
Price: 5
Website & Help: 5
Stability: 5
Overall, I rate this application as excellent. The application has been stable throughout 8-10 hour workdays with no crashes or lockups. I thought the interface was a little confusing, but this is still beta. Have to wait and see what the final looks like. As far as everything else goes, this is a great application.
You can download WinSCP from: http://winscp.vse.cz/eng/index.php
Story by: HumanX (linuxdig.com)
You can contact me at linuxdig.com by using the "Contact LinuxDig" navigation link or visit my personal page at HumanX.com which never gets updated.
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